Immortālitās

Chapter Ten

"Let's get started right away!" Midnight grabbed everyone's attention. "The first game will be a qualifier round! Many of you will find it to be the beginning as well as the ending of your run here at the U.A. Sports Festival! If you would all look behind me, let us discover the first game!"

She waved her arm through the air, and a digital display appeared with a category box that started spinning.

"This year, it's going to be—!" The spinning finally stopped. "An obstacle course race! Every single class will be participating in this race and your course will be the outer circumference of the stadium. You could say it's about four kilometers! As long as you stay on the course, you can do whatever it takes to win! Now competitors, take your places!"

We all moved to stand in front of the opening gate.

"Ochaco!" I called over to the girl and she looked over at me. "I'd ask if you'd like to team-up, but I have a strong feeling you'd tell me no."

"You would be correct," she smiled at me. "I would join you on any other occasion, and perhaps I will in a later event if it's called for, but I want to show everyone in this first round that I am capable of taking care of myself!"

"You're capable," I smiled back at her. "More than capable. I wish the best to you, Ochaco, and good luck!"

"Thank you, Ivan! You as well."

All of the lights lit up above the gate and it slowly started to count down.

"Start!" Midnight shouted as the last light went out.

I charged ahead of the group but kept myself from being in the lead. I noticed that Shoto, Katsuki, Momo, and even Eijiro were amongst the leaders as we entered the tunnels. Things started to get a little congested in the main pack, so I stayed ahead of the thickening crowd to avoid the stalemate that occurred. It wasn't until we started to exit the tunnel that I saw Shoto make his first move as some frost started to pick-up around his fingers. Knowing what was coming next, I leaped into the air as a sheet of ice raced across the ground.

Shoto, you dirty boy.

I was surprised to see Mineta using the balls from his head to bounce up to the lead where Shoto was currently running. I watched, thinking that he might have been able to take the lead before he was swatted away by a mechanical hand.

Ah. The robots from the practical exams.

If only I had my trusty battle axe.

I stopped to see what Shoto would do, and unsurprisingly, it took him little-to-no effort to freeze all of the robots in front of him to run ahead.

I ran after him and heard another kid suggest the same before Shoto warned us that it could lead to injury.

I laughed while running through the frozen giants, dodging when needed, and kept pace with the moody teen.

"Don't think that that's going to stop most of the students in this race, Shoto!" I called after him.

Our class isn't known to just stand around, after all.

The next obstacle was a large pit-fall decorated with a plethora of stone pillars. Each stone pillar had a tight-rope connecting it to the pillars around it.

Shoto used his ice to glide across all of the tight-ropes and I simply jumped from one stone pillar to another. We reached the end and I smiled as I heard small explosions catching up to us.

It sounded like Bakugo was finally catching up.

As we reached the final obstacle course, I read the sign next to the open field.

Danger! Mines!

This isn't a legit minefield though, right?

I paused to pick up a stone before throwing it at one of the mines.

It exploded in a burst of pink. Strange.

So, the landmines weren't powerful, just loud and flashy. To top it off, they were really easy to see if you looked hard enough. I could understand how it could hold you back if you were in a rush, but that wasn't the case for me.

I charged ahead as Bakugo used his quirk to keep sailing above the ground.

I expertly ran around the landmines but stepped on one to use the momentum to catch up to the boys ahead of me.

After all, when's the last time I was afraid of a little explosion?

"Idiot!" Bakugo growled as he tried to pass by Shoto. "Don't go declaring war on the wrong person!"

I continued to watch as they fought with each other, trying to slow the other down.

That was until a giant explosion went off behind us, and Izuku went flying by to take the lead.

Using an explosion to travel faster? What an original idea.

It seemed to spur on the other two as they stopped trying to get into each other's faces and started to chase after the green-haired trainee. Bakugo especially.

I continued to use the landmines to propel myself forward as I saw an opportunity was about to make itself known.

Shoto and Katsuki were just about to surpass Izuku when he suddenly slammed the piece of armor he held onto the ground, causing another mine to go off.

I laughed out loud as Izuku flew forward, taking a large lead.

As we reached the end of the minefield, I decided it was time to act.

I pooled the warm feeling into my stomach before I transferred it into my legs. It was during another visit to my quirk specialist that we discovered that the energy I could control could be used just like any other enhancement quirk, but not in a traditional sense. Depending on where I put the energy, that part of my body could perform past its peak performance. When it was moving through my legs? I could run as fast as Tenya...Almost.

I passed by the two hotheads and quickly caught up to Midoriya.

"What?!" He panted. "How did you catch up?"

"That's something to worry about another time," I snorted. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with second place. Keep your chin up!"

He gave me an odd look as I passed him by.

"Ivan Tantarimoto is the first person back into the stadium!" Present Mic's voice was loud as we made our entrance back through the gate. "Hot on his heels is Izuku Midoriya!"

Izuku was emotional as he looked out into the cheering crowd but stood tall nonetheless.

Good. He was over his initial nervousness.

"Now they're finishing one after another!" Present Mic continued to announce. "We will display the results later! Good work, everyone! For now at least."

I watched as the other students started passing through the gate, but looked for one in particular.

"Ochaco!" I hollered as she ran back into the stadium. "You did great!"

"I-Ivan!" She panted, running towards me. "You finished in first place! That's incredible!"

"Thank you," I patted her shoulder as she caught her breath. "I've got to show everyone who they should be focusing on, after all!"

I smiled at her before I noticed as someone else passed through the gate. "Excuse me for a moment, Ochaco."

I narrowed my eyes as I approached an indecent Momo.

"What do you think you're doing?" I glared at Mineta. He was attached to her back, causing her jersey to become undone.

"I-I-Ivan!" He shrieked. "This isn't what it looks like!"

"I don't believe you!" I seethed before punching him into the ground. "You little pervert!"

I walked back to Ochaco like nothing happened.

"Now, where were we?"

Ochaco put her hand over her mouth and laughed.

"The first round of the first-year stage is over!" Midnight declared. "Let us take a look at the results!"

Everyone moved to stand in front of the podium once more, but I lost track of Ochaco in the crowd.

I, of course, was in first-place while Izuku was in second. We were followed by Shoto who took third, and Katsuki who took fourth.

Overall, we had eight students from Class 1-A in the top ten and all twenty-one students in the top forty-two. Our class made up half of the next round.

"Everyone in the top forty-two will move on to the next round," the R-Rated Hero proclaimed. "But don't worry if you didn't make it! You will have other opportunities to shine! The real competition will begin next!"

We all watched as the digital board appeared once more.

"The next game shall be—!" The categories started to spin. "Cavalry Battle! Participants can form teams of two to four people. It's practically the same as a normal cavalry battle, but some things are different. Based on the results from the obstacle course race, each person has been assigned a point value. The points assigned go up by five starting for the bottom of the list. First place is the only differential, being assigned ten million points!"

I smirked as everyone turned their eyes upon me.

I was now enemy number one.

"That's right," Midnight purred. "Survival of the fittest! Even those at the bottom are capable of overthrowing the top! So, with that, let me explain to you the rules! The time limit will be fifteen minutes. Each team will be worth the total of its members' points and the rider of the team will be required to wear a headband with that total on their foreheads. You will try to grab each other's headbands before time runs out, and attempt to keep as many points as you can. If you steal a headband, it must be worn from the neck up. The more you steal, the more difficult it will be for your rider to manage them. Another change is that if you get your points stolen, or if your team falls to the ground, you can remain the game. This is still a cavalry battle, so expect to get a card for attacks that try to make people fall on purpose!"

Hmm. So there's going to be a minimum of ten teams on the field the whole time, huh? A maximum of twenty-one, but I doubt everyone will pick teams of two. I already know who I want on my team.

"You have fifteen minutes to create your teams! Begin!"

"Ivan!" I turned to see Ochaco running towards me.

"And here I thought I'd have to come searching for you," I smiled at her. "How'd you find me so quickly anyways, you got some kind of tracking device hidden somewhere?"

"N-no," she blushed. "I started looking for you after the game was announced. I said I would happily help you in the next round if it were team-oriented."

"You're right," I poked her forehead. "I just enjoy teasing you."

"I-Ivan."

"Uraraka!"

We both turned to see Izuku running towards us.

"I wanted to ask if you'd like to be on my team?"

Heh. Too late, Midoriya.

"I'm sorry, Deku," she responded. "I already agreed to be on Ivan's team. Perhaps we could all—"

"Nope." Midoriya and I spoke at the same time.

"My team has already been decided," I shrugged.

"This puts a wrench into my plans," Izuku clenched his fists. "But I'm aiming for the top, Ivan."

We stared each other down.

"Good." I smiled at him before smirking. "You'll need to try your best if you want to reach me."

"You're perfect," a new voice spoke out. "Team up with me, person in second place!"

"You're so close!" Izuku yelped. "Who are you, anyway?!"

"I am Mei Hatsume, from the support course!" The now named girl giggled. "I'm not sure as to who you are, and I was going to ask Mr. First Place until I heard him say his team was already decided, but let me use your position!"

Wow, she's pretty honest with her words.

Ochaco and I watched as she started muttering to Izuku about her babies, which then turned into them muttering together about heroes.

"They are so alike it's uncanny," Ochaco whispered to me.

"Do you think they'll notice if we sneak away?" She shook her head and we tiptoed to stage left.

"Who else did you want to be on our team?" The zero-gravity girl of my affections asked.

"No one." I smiled, putting my hands behind my head.

"I'm sorry, Ivan," Ochaco muttered. "I don't think I heard you correctly. You didn't just say no one, did you?"

"I said what I meant, and meant what I said," I smirked. "It's just you and me, one-hundred percent!"

"I appreciate you using Dr. Seuss as a way to humor the situation," an aura surrounded the girl. "But we're going to have 10,00,130 points! How are we supposed—!"

"Relax, Ochaco," I placed my hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be all right, I promise."

"I know that you're great, Ivan, but I'm not the best suited for taking on so many people and my zero gravity will—!"

"Ochaco," I grabbed onto her other shoulder firmly. Her eyes widened. "Do you trust me?"

"I, I—!"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then focus on that trust," I smiled at her. "We're going to be okay. I plan on using my speed and endurance along with your zero gravity to dance around the other students. And don't worry about the nausea you usually feel when overexerting yourself, I believe I have a way to counteract it."

"What do you mean?" She looked puzzled.

"You'll find out when the time comes," I poked her forehead. "If it comes at all. I just need you to trust me."

"Of course," she took a deep breath and relaxed. "I'm going to be the rider then, correct?"

"Jackpot," we collected our headband and she tied it to her forehead. "I'll be counting on you not to lose it."

"Do you need me to climb onto your back?"

"A-ah," I blushed and scratched my cheek. "No. I'm going to need you to s-sit on my shoulders."

Her eyes glazed over.

I think I broke her again.

"If it makes you more comfortable," I quickly backtracked. "I can carry you on my back. It's just that—!"

"No!" She shouted before covering her mouth. Her face turned a deep shade of red. "W-what I meant to say, was I trust you. You probably have a plan, so you need to carry me on your shoulders. I understand."

I slowly smiled.

"Oh?" She slowly back away from me. "Are you sure, Ochaco?~"

"Yes!" She blushed again.

"It sounded like something else to me, Ochaco!~"

"I-Ivan!"

"Time's up, everyone!" The buzzer to make teams went off. "It's time to get started!"

"Thirteen cavalry teams have lined up on the field!" Present Mic was heard over the speakers once more. "I'm surprised to see Ivan Tantarimoto is on a team with just one other person! They have ten million points at risk, after all!"

"I think Ivan and Uraraka will surprise some of you," I heard Aizawa mutter next. "There are some interesting teams out there, nonetheless."

I knelt to the ground so Ochaco could situate herself on top of my shoulders, and then stood back up to face our competitors.

"I don't know what you're thinking by having a two-person squad," a blonde student from Class 1 B smirked at us. "But I'll just file it along with the rest of your classes overconfidence."

"I wouldn't call it overconfidence," I smirked back at him and Ochaco gripped my shoulders. "I'd say it full confidence in my teammate's abilities!"

"We'll see about that," he scoffed and turned away. "Let's just say I'm not impressed."

It was like talking to a smiling version of Shoto, but in this case, I knew this kid wouldn't be a problem.

"Let the countdown begin!"

"Three!"

"I'll be counting on you, Ochaco!"

"Two!"

"I won't let you down, Ivan!"

"One!"

"Great, because everyone's going to be gunning for us!"

"Start!"

Let the game of keep away begin!

Hello, friends! We got to see another little peek into Ivan's new abilities, but there is still more to come! Thank you so much for reading this chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

TTFN.